Chapter 53.1

Qin Yan’s parents were celebrating the New Year at the base, but Qin Yan planned to stay up for New Year’s Eve with his family. Jiang Ruan didn’t want to leave Grandma Huang alone, so she stayed with her. They spent the holiday at Jiang Ruan’s parents’ house, joining her second aunt’s family. Jiang Ruan was fine with any arrangement, and a few days earlier, Han Qingqing had already been forcibly sent home by her second uncle.

The New Year’s Eve dinner was relatively harmonious, though Jiang Ruan’s older brother refused to address their second aunt as “Mom” anymore.

Jiang Ruan received New Year’s money from her second brother, Han Yunqing. On the first day of the New Year, she spent the day at Qin Yan’s house, and on the second day, they visited relatives. Shen Tianming brought gifts to the compound, but left after lunch. Jiang Ruan and Qin Yan returned home after having dinner at her parents’ place.

On the third day of the New Year, Jiang Jianchun gave birth to a baby girl, a natural delivery. She was discharged the next day, and Liu Jinyun showed the baby to Grandma Huang, seeking approval. “Doesn’t this child resemble Kong Nianqing? It turns out we were mistaken, Da Chun’s child is actually Kong Nianqing’s.”

The newborn was only a few days old—how could anyone tell whom she resembled? Even if the child was indeed from the Kong family, could they really get remarried?

Jiang Jianchun had an affair with her boss while still married and had since remarried. Now she wanted to get back with her ex-husband, which was a ridiculous idea. The Kong family had their pride and would never accept it.

Grandma Huang, being a lifelong neighbor, tried to reason with her: “Do you want Da Chun to remarry, or is it what she really wants?”

“Da Chun wants to get back together. I can see it,” Liu Jinyun replied. If she had been clear-headed, she wouldn’t have helped Jiang Jianchun cover up the baby-switching incident and send Jiang Ruan to the countryside.

Grandma Huang was deeply disappointed. “Kong Nianqing is getting married on the sixth day of the New Year, and his bride is a first-time wife. Don’t go and ruin things for the girl, or it will be your grandson who suffers.”

When Jiang Jianchun divorced, her son was given to the Kong family, and there was no way she could take him away.

Liu Jinyun, unwilling to give up, argued, “My Da Chun is beautiful and capable. Why let the child have a stepmother? I’ll go ask the Kong family.”

Jiang Ruan, leaning against the door and eating roasted pumpkin, was astonished. She turned to Grandma Huang, “Grandma, I’m going over there to watch the drama.”

Grandma Huang stopped her. “If you laugh at others’ misfortune today, one day they’ll laugh at yours.”

Jiang Ruan wasn’t going to watch the drama for amusement. “I heard from Brother Qin Yan that a relative of Kong Nianqing’s second wife’s family is a sworn brother of Jiang family’s eldest brother’s boss. I want to check out the situation and give Uncle Jiang a heads-up.”

“Then go quickly,” Grandma Huang said, knowing that the Jiang family’s eldest, Jiang Wangshan, was the most accomplished.

Grandma Huang was frustrated with Liu Jinyun’s foolishness, only ever worrying about the child who wasn’t doing well and neglecting the other kids. She had previously gone to great lengths to help Han Qingqing, making many wrong decisions. Now, she even had Han Qingqing bring over the recipe for pickled fish to open her own restaurant, offending her best friend—a truly muddled person.

…

Jiang Ruan hurried over to the Kong family. It was the fourth day of the New Year, and the Kong family was preparing for a wedding in two days. Jiang Jianchun had divorced due to her affair, remarried while pregnant, and the Kong family was disgusted by her actions. The bride-to-be was a first-time wife but had a child from an out-of-wedlock pregnancy. The child was being raised as a nephew, and the woman’s family had been honest with the Kong family about it. The Kongs accepted the situation and were determined to host a grand wedding.

Although the matter of the child wasn’t a secret, anyone who dug around could find out. As expected, Liu Jinyun tried to use this information to threaten Kong Nianqing.

She even earnestly tried to persuade him, saying, “A wife from your first marriage is always better,” almost giving the Kong family a heart attack.

Jiang Ruan thought to herself, “What business is it of anyone else’s if the two families have agreed and are happy with the arrangement?” Using someone else’s vulnerabilities as leverage was just too much.

She rushed to the factory to find Jiang Baomin, who was on duty, and explained the situation. “Uncle Jiang, my eldest sister-in-law has always treated me well, so I came to warn you. If the Kong family’s wedding falls apart, it will affect Brother and Sister-in-law. I’ve passed on the message, but don’t mention that I told you.”

Jiang Baomin thought Liu Jinyun had gone mad. Why shouldn’t Kong Nianqing remarry? There was no reasoning with her.

If he dragged Liu Jinyun back now, who could guarantee she wouldn’t act up again next time? His two sons were doing well, and his reputation at the factory was improving, he couldn’t let one person’s craziness ruin the whole family.

The compound belonged to Liu Jinyun’s family, and Jiang Baomin was practically living there as an in-law. Over the years, he hadn’t managed Liu Jinyun much, always feeling like he had no real standing.

But now, after years of her nonsense, he suddenly wanted to live for himself.

He went to the factory manager and explained the situation at home. “Manager, I want to get a divorce.”

Divorce was a big deal and required a certificate from the workplace. At his age, being a grandfather, why divorce now? The manager thought it was a strange idea but also sympathized with Jiang Baomin.

The manager said, “At your age, divorcing would reflect poorly on Wangshan and Wanghai. How about this, bring Liu Jinyun home, and I’ll ask the women’s committee director to have a talk with her.”

Jiang Baomin brought her back, and the factory arranged for someone to speak to her, but no one could guarantee she wouldn’t stir up trouble at the wedding on the sixth.

Meanwhile, the eldest sister-in-law had returned. Jiang Jianchun was doing her postpartum confinement at her parents’ house, and the eldest sister-in-law stood at the door, speaking coldly, “Da Chun, you can do whatever you want, but at least think about your brother. Tell me, is it Kong Nianqing’s fault that he’s remarrying and giving your son a stepmother? You brought this upon yourself. As for this newborn child, no matter who the father is, I advise you to claim it’s Liao Chunxing’s and save yourself the embarrassment!”

“Eldest sister-in-law, how can you speak so harshly? Da Chun is in postpartum confinement and shouldn’t get upset.”

The eldest sister-in-law sneered. “So Da Chun shouldn’t get upset, but it’s okay for others to be upset at their wedding?”

She didn’t want to argue further and left with one last remark, “Maybe you should look after Qingqing. It’s the New Year, yet the Shen family hasn’t invited her over. Don’t you wonder why?”

Liu Jinyun was indeed puzzled. Why hadn’t they invited their future daughter-in-law? She thought Shen’s mother was still upset about the previous engagement issues and planned to take Han Qingqing over tomorrow.

“You know the reason?”

“Have you heard the rumors spreading from the school to here? They say Han Qingqing has a pair of ‘foxy eyes’ and is flirting with the male students. Do you think the Shen family would invite her over after hearing that?”

“That’s nonsense! Da Chun and I are at the shop every day—we would know if that were true.”

“Then you should think about who you might have offended. Someone is clearly spreading these rumors to ruin her reputation!”

Liu Jinyun immediately suspected that the source was Mu Xuehui’s sauerkraut fish restaurant across the street and assumed it was her flirtatious stepmother spreading the rumors.

“I’ll go settle this with her.”

“How can you? You used her recipe and opened a shop right across the street. Even if it was her, she would never admit it. You can’t outargue Shen Yuzhen, so why go looking for trouble?”

…

Han Qingqing had only seen Shen Tianming once since the second day of the New Year, and he hadn’t come to take her to the Shen family for dinner by the fourth day. Feeling upset, she went to find Mu Xuehui.

Mu Xuehui had anticipated her visit and was prepared for what to say.

Han Qingqing had told her about the plan to open a shop with her sister, which she accepted, but now they had opened it directly opposite her. After doing such a thing and still wanting to be friends, fine—Mu Xuehui had lived through one lifetime and could manage this.

Mu Xuehui mimicked Han Qingqing’s dilemma and expressed her own difficulties:

“Qingqing, once your store opened, mine lost business, so I had to bring in my stepmother. The rumors about you came from her, but they weren’t completely unfounded—some male students indeed visited your store often because they liked you. Rest assured, I’ve already told her to stop spreading rumors.”

Han Qingqing blushed and looked aggrieved. “I can’t control other people’s thoughts, those boys chose to come to eat on their own. I can’t exactly tell them not to come, can I?”

Mu Xuehui continued to sneer inwardly. Look at how Qin Yan deals with girls who show interest in him, or how Jiang Ruan handles flirtatious men. Even she herself, despite deciding to stay married to Qin Ao for life, had never entertained thoughts about another man.

Han Qingqing acted weak and delicate with everyone; even when explaining she had a boyfriend, she seemed so aggrieved, making it seem like Shen Tianming was the heartbreaker. How could this not lead to misunderstandings?

Mu Xuehui had no desire to help her anymore, nor to offer any solutions. She said, “You wouldn’t be able to persuade my stepmother.”

“Huihui, what should I do then? I tried explaining to Shen Tianming, but his response was indifferent.”

Mu Xuehui was speechless. In the previous life, Shen Tianming was practically a puppy following Han Qingqing around, how did she manage to extinguish even his devotion?

She said, “Why don’t you ask your sister for advice?”

“Huihui, aren’t we close anymore? I feel like you don’t care about me as much as you used to.”

Mu Xuehui reassured her, “Don’t overthink it. I have my own problems, my biological mom is about to give birth, and I need to take care of her.”

…

On the sixth day of the New Year, the Kong family held a wedding, and Jiang Baomin stayed home to prevent Liu Jinyun from causing any trouble.

Jiang Ruan and Qin Yan stayed at home with Grandma Huang, having a meal and tidying up, before heading to Dawang Village. The cottage had been empty for a few days and needed some cleaning. As soon as they arrived, several villagers brought over fried meatballs and cured meat. Jiang Ruan also shared some snacks she brought from the city with the villagers, asking them to take some home for their children.

Children from the village came by to play and see the chicks. Jiang Ruan had anticipated this and brought plenty of candies, making the day lively and bustling.

In the evening, they had hot pot. The next day, Qin Yan asked if she wanted to see the sacred herb flowers in the mountains. Jiang Ruan declined, saying the snow on the mountains was over 20 centimeters deep, making it impractical to walk. They walked around the outskirts instead, noticing footprints far from where she had planted her seedlings.

On the 15th of the first month, Jiang Ruan and Qin Yan returned to the city for the Lantern Festival. The 16th marked the start of Qin Yan’s school term, while Jiang Ruan had to head back to the village. She told him, “Brother Qin Yan, I’ll be working on the seedlings and won’t return to the city until March.”

Qin Yan replied, “I’ll come visit you on the weekends.”

When the first buds appeared on the branches, Jiang Ruan ventured into the mountains to harvest the mature sacred herb flowers, digging up the entire plant to collect the seeds. The stalks, leaves, and roots could be chopped and fed to the chickens and ducks.

She had planted 27 seedlings, but only harvested 26 fruits—one had disappeared.

The snow had not yet completely melted, and there were no footprints besides her own, meaning the plant had likely been dug up during the snowy period before the New Year.

It seemed someone had targeted her medicinal formula and had taken notice, managing to find and dig up one plant.

Jiang Ruan wasn’t worried. While the dug-up plant did have medicinal properties, without her special ability to nurture the soil, the seedlings it produced wouldn’t have any therapeutic value.

The plant she gave to Qin Yan could only be used for emergencies, not as a seed source, and the stolen one was the same.